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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Best Patternmaking Book Ever

I love vintage sewing books. I used to only look for the most current books, until I had a light bulb moment: if you want to sew vintage patterns, you need vintage sewing books! Plus, they're filled with fabulous illustrations and photos for inspiration.

The one vintage book that I refer to time and time again is called Design Your Own Dress Patterns: a Primer in Pattern Making for Women Who Like to Sew by Adele P. Margolis.

It was originally published in 1959, but my edition is from 1971. There are a lot of expensive patternmaking text books out there, but for my money, this is really the best one for the home dressmaker. I found my copy for under $20 on Alibris! Also, I believe it has been reprinted by Dover in a new edition, but I'm not sure how it varies from the original.

This book tells you everything you need to know to make your own dress patterns. You can either start with a sloper, or adapt a pattern you already have. You want to change a straight skirt into a circle skirt? Add a midriff band? Turn darts into gathers? Yes!

Make leg o' mutton sleeves? (No? I didn't think so.)

Anyway, snatch up a copy if you can. Adele P. Margolis is (was?) one special lady. I especially love the dedication in my edition:

To my editor and very good friend, Harold Kuebler, who has borne up nobly through a decade of darts

Can't you just see poor Harold Kuebler? In my mind, he's a tweed-wearing fellow who dreamt of editing the great American novel. Alas, that was not to be. It was Harold's lot in life to edit primers for ladies who like to sew. Did he indeed accept his burden nobly? Or did he drown his lost dreams in dry martinis on his lunch break? I suppose we'll never know. But thank you, Harold. This lady who likes to sew salutes you.

Hello there Gertie, found your blog thru a link you left on your parfait dress on flickr and I'm so glad I followed it :o) I've been a fan of your creations that you've posted on BurdaStyle too.Have a nice weekend, EmilyKate

Thank you for the pattern book tip, have not encountered this one before, I really like that skirt treatment on the dress (view b). And ditto on vintage sewing books, I have a few from the 40's and 50's and I still find them very useful, since they cover some stuff that newer books doesn't.

I'm so glad that I'm not the only person out there that loves old sewing books. I don't think I have one that is more recent than 1962. Thanks for blogging - I love your style and just added you to my Google Reader. :)

Listen, Alice. The hell with him. Give every part of your house a breath of fresh air. There are plenty more where he came from. Leave 1/2 cup of Mule Team Borax in a partially covered container where needed. Don't dwell on it. Change every two to three weeks. Ditto for him.

I have that Vogue sewing book, 1972? It was my first sewing book and a gift from my former neighbor a woman who could sew anything. You're right it's wonderful for traditional techniques and how to do any handstitch.

Actually leg-o-mutton sleeves were in fashion in those retro-colonial fashions of the seventies. Mostly inspired by the bicentennial.

And my nomination for "if you could only have one sewing book" is "The Costume Technician's Handbook". It covers basic pattern making, a huge range of sewing techniques, dyeing, mask and moldmaking, millinary etc. I have this version: